Water pump device

ABSTRACT

A water pump device including a driving motor, a housing, a magnetic rotating member and a magnetic impeller unit is provided. The driving motor includes a rotating shaft extending outside the housing. The housing is disposed on the driving motor and includes an accommodation portion and a water drawing portion. The water drawing portion has a water inlet and a water outlet. The magnetic rotating member is disposed in the accommodation portion. The rotating shaft is disposed in the magnetic rotating member. The magnetic rotating member includes alternately arranged first surfaces and second surfaces, and their respective magnetic poles are different. The magnetic impeller unit is disposed opposite to top of the magnetic rotating member and located in the water drawing portion. The magnetic impeller unit includes alternately arranged third surfaces and fourth surfaces, and their respective magnetic poles are different.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a water pump, and more particular to a water pump with increased energy transfer efficiency.

BACKGROUND

Water pumps are common devices for domestic water supply systems. A water pump includes a water inlet, a water outlet, a motor, and an impeller. The major principle of a water pump is to rotate the impeller by the motor such that a water pressure difference is generated, and the water pressure at the water outlet is higher than the water pressure at the water inlet, water surrounding the water inlet will be sucked into the water pump and drained through the water outlet.

In the above-mentioned conventional water pump structure, the connection between the impeller and the motor is the rotating shaft the mother. Such a structure and driving manner is most common used for current conventional water pumps. However, when the impeller is connected to the rotating shaft and driven to be rotating by driving the rotating shaft, the energy transfer efficiency is not good, i.e., more power will be consumed. Therefore, it will be a main issue for the research and develop of water pumps to increase the energy transfer efficiency of water pumps.

SUMMARY

For achieving the above-mentioned purpose, a water pump device is provided. The water pump device includes a driving motor, a housing, a magnetic rotating member, and a magnetic impeller unit. The driving motor including a rotating shaft extending outside the motor. The housing is disposed on the driving motor, and includes an accommodation portion and a water drawing portion, the rotating shaft is disposed in the accommodation portion and extends outside the housing, and the water drawing portion has a water inlet and a water outlet. The magnetic rotating member is disposed in the accommodation portion, while the rotating shaft is disposed in the magnetic rotating member. The magnetic rotating member includes alternately arranged several first surfaces and second surfaces, and magnetic poles of the first surfaces are different from magnetic poles of the second surfaces. The magnetic impeller unit is disposed opposite to top of the magnetic rotating member and located in the water drawing portion. The magnetic impeller unit includes alternately arranged several third surfaces and fourth surfaces. The magnetic poles of the third surfaces are different from magnetic poles of the fourth surfaces, wherein magnetic poles of the first surfaces are same to the magnetic poles of the third surfaces, while magnetic poles of the second surfaces are same to the magnetic poles of the fourth surfaces.

In an embodiment of the invention, the magnetic impeller unit further includes a disk magnet, a hub, and several blades. The disk magnet includes a bottom surface facing the magnetic rotating member and including the third surfaces and the forth surfaces. Each of the blades is individually connected to the hub, and the blades are disposed radically from the hub.

In an embodiment of the invention, the magnetic impeller unit further includes a cover body and at least a bump. The cover body is disposed on the disk magnet and covering the blades, the cover body includes a first opening and at least a fixing hole, and a space and at least a second opening are defined between the cover body and the disk magnet, wherein the first opening is corresponding to the water inlet, while the second opening is corresponding to the water outlet. The bump is disposed on one of the blades and penetrates through the fixing hole of the cover body.

In an embodiment of the invention, the magnetic rotating member further includes a top surface opposite to the bottom surface the disk magnet, the top surface includes the first surfaces and the second surfaces, and the areas of the top surface and the bottom surface are almost the same to each other.

In an embodiment of the invention, the magnetic rotating member includes a disk magnet which is round, rectangular, or polygon-shaped.

In the water pump device of the invention, the magnetic impeller unit is disposed opposite to top of the magnetic rotating member, without any connecting member between them. The magnetic rotating member includes alternately arranged a plurality of first surfaces and a plurality of second surfaces, and magnetic poles of the first surfaces are different from magnetic poles of the second surfaces. The magnetic impeller unit includes alternately arranged a plurality of third surfaces and a plurality of fourth surfaces, and magnetic poles of the third surfaces are different from magnetic poles of the fourth surfaces. Under such structural design, when the water pump is in operation, attractive and repulsive forces are generated between the magnetic impeller and the magnetic rotating member, and thus enable the magnetic rotating member to rotate the magnetic impeller unit. Such a driving manner may enhance the energy conversion efficiency of the device, and at the same time to achieve the power saving effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional views of a water pump according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the magnetic rotating member and the magnetic impeller unit shown in FIG. 1, with illustration of their structures and the relative positions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a water pump according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the magnetic rotating member and the magnetic impeller unit shown in FIG. 1, with indication of their structures and the relative position of the two. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the water pump device 1 includes the driving motor 11, the housing 12, the magnetic rotating member 13, and the magnetic impeller unit 14. The driving motor 11 includes the rotating shaft 111 extending outside the housing 12. The housing 12 is disposed on the driving motor 11. The housing 12 includes the accommodation portion 121 and the water drawing portion 122. The rotating shaft 111 of the driving motor 11 is disposed in the accommodation portion 121. The water drawing portion 122 has a water inlet 1221 and a water outlet 1222. The magnetic rotating member 13 is disposed within the accommodation portion 121 of the housing 12, while the rotating shaft 111 of the driving motor 11 is disposed within and penetrates through the magnetic rotating member 13. More specifically, the rotating shaft 11 is disposed and penetrates through the central portion of the magnetic rotating member 13. The magnetic rotating member 13 includes alternately arranged several first surfaces 131 and several second surfaces 132, and magnetic poles of the first surfaces 131 are different from magnetic poles of the second surfaces 132. For example, magnetic poles of the first surfaces 131 are N poles, while magnetic poles of the second surfaces 132 are S poles. However, the invention is not limited to this embodiment. The magnetic impeller unit 14 is disposed opposite to top of the magnetic rotating member 13 and is located within the water drawing portion 122. The magnetic impeller unit 14 includes alternately arranged several third surfaces 141 and several fourth surfaces 142, and magnetic poles of the third surfaces 141 are different from magnetic poles of the fourth surfaces 142. For example, magnetic poles of the third surfaces 141 are N poles, while magnetic poles of the forth surfaces 142 are S poles. However, the invention is not limited to this embodiment. Furthermore, magnetic poles of the first surfaces 131 are same to the magnetic poles of the third surfaces 141 (e.g. all are N poles), while magnetic poles of the second surfaces 132 are same to the magnetic poles of the fourth surfaces 142 (e.g. all are S poles).

It is to be noticeable that, FIG. 2 illustrates that the magnetic impeller unit 14 includes a component named disk magnet, which will be described in detailed later. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the magnetic rotating member 13 is, e.g., a round disk magnet, but it is not to limit the scope of the invention. In other embodiment, the magnetic rotating member 13 might be a rectangular or polygon-shaped disk magnet.

Particularly, in the embodiment, the first surfaces 131 and the second surfaces 132 of the magnetic rotating member 13 are respectively the surfaces of the first magnet units 133 and the second magnet units 134, and there are four first surfaces 131 and four second surfaces 132, respectively. In other words, there are four first magnet units 133 and four second magnet units 134, respectively. In the other hand, the third surfaces 141 and the fourth surfaces 142 of the magnetic impeller unit 14 are respectively the surfaces of the third magnet units 146 and the fourth magnet units 147, and there are four third surfaces 141 and four fourth surfaces 142, respectively. In other words, there are four third magnet units 146 and four fourth magnet units 147, respectively. The four first surfaces 131, the four second surfaces 132, the four third surfaces 133, and the four fourth surfaces 134 are only an embodiment of the invention and it is not to limit the scope of the invention. The number of the above-mentioned surfaces may be varied according to various practical needs. Furthermore, the above-mentioned first magnet units 133 are connected with the second magnet units 134, respectively, while the third magnet units 146 are connected with the fourth magnet units 147, respectively.

In the embodiment, when the water pump 1 is in operation, attractive and repulsive forces are generated between the first surfaces 131/the second surfaces 132 of the magnetic rotating member 13 and the third surfaces 141/the fourth surfaces 142 of the magnetic impeller unit 14. Accordingly, when the driving motor 11 drives the rotating shaft 11 to rotate the magnetic rotating member 13, it will also rotate the magnetic impeller unit 14 through the attractive and repulsive forces generated continuously between the magnetic rotating member 13 and the magnetic impeller unit 14. The rotation of the magnetic impeller unit 14 will generate a pressure difference between the water inlet 1221 and the water outlet 1222, such that the pressure at the water outlet 1222 is higher than the pressure at the water inlet 1221, and thus the water flow will be drew from the water inlet 1221 and drained through the water outlet 1222. Such a driving manner will further enhance the energy conversion efficiency of the water pump 1. In other words, to provide driving force for the rotation of the magnetic impeller unit 14 with the attractive and repulsive forces generated continuously between the magnetic rotating member 13 and the magnetic impeller unit 14 will bring a better power-saving effect.

The following description is directed to subject to further detailed configuration of the water pump 1 according to the embodiment of the invention.

Please further refer to FIG. 1, the magnetic impeller unit 14 further includes the disk magnet 143, the hub 144, and several blades 145. The disk magnet 143 has a bottom surface 1430 facing the magnetic rotating member 13. The bottom surface 1430 includes the third surfaces 141 and the forth surfaces 142 as shown in FIG. 2. The hub 144 is placed on the disk magnet 143 in a sleeve manner In this embodiment, each of the blades 145 is individually connected to the hub 144, and the blades 145 are disposed radically from the hub 14. Furthermore, the blades 145 and the hub 144 may be formed integrally. However, the above-mentioned details of this embodiment are not to limit the scope of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the magnetic impeller unit 14 further includes the cover body 148 and at least a bump 149. The cover body 148 is disposed on the disk magnet 143 and covers the blades 145. The cover body 148 has a first opening 1481 and at least a fixing hole 1480. A space S and at least a second opening 1482 are defined between the cover body 148 and the disk magnet 143, wherein the first opening 1481 is corresponding to the water inlet 1221, while the second opening 1482 is corresponding to the water outlet 1222. There are two fixing holes 1480 formed on the cover body 148 in this embodiment, but it is not to limit the scope of the invention, and the number of the fixing holes 1480 may be varied for various practical needs. The bump 149 is disposed on one of the blades 145. There are two bumps 149 in this embodiment, but it is not to limit the scope of the invention. The bumps 149 is disposed opposite to the corresponding fixing holes 1480 disposed on the cover body 148. When the cover body 148 is placed on the disk magnet 143 and covers the blades 145, the bumps 149 will penetrate through the fixing holes 1480 of the cover body 148, so as to fix the cover body 148 on the disk magnet 143 firmly.

When water is introduced into the water pump 1 through the water inlet 1221 of the housing 12, water flows into the space S through the first opening 1481 of the cover body 1148. Meanwhile, due to the pressure difference generated by the rotation of the magnetic impeller unit 14, the pressure at the water outlet 1222 will be higher than the pressure at the water inlet 1221, and thus water in the space S will flow through the second opening 1482, and be drained from the water outlet 1222.

As shown in FIG. 1, the magnetic rotating member 13 further includes a top surface 130. The top surface 130 is opposite to the bottom surface 1430 of the disk magnet 143, and the top surface 130 includes the above-mentioned first surfaces 131 and second surfaces 132. It is noticeable that, in this embodiment, the areas of the top surface 130 of the magnetic rotating member and the bottom surface 1430 of the disk magnet 143 are almost the same to each other, but it is not to limit the scope of the invention. In other embodiments, the area of the top surface 130 of the magnetic rotating member is, e.g. smaller than the area of the bottom surface 1430 of the disk magnet 143.

To sum up, in the water pump device of the invention, the magnetic impeller unit is disposed opposite to top of the magnetic rotating member, without any connecting member between them. The magnetic rotating member includes alternately arranged a plurality of first surfaces and a plurality of second surfaces, and magnetic poles of the first surfaces are different from magnetic poles of the second surfaces. The magnetic impeller unit includes alternately arranged a plurality of third surfaces and a plurality of fourth surfaces, and magnetic poles of the third surfaces are different from magnetic poles of the fourth surfaces. Under such structural design, when the water pump is in operation, attractive and repulsive forces are generated between the magnetic impeller and the magnetic rotating member, and thus enable the magnetic rotating member to rotate the magnetic impeller unit. Such a driving manner may enhance the energy conversion efficiency of the device, and at the same time to achieve the power saving effect.

While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A water pump device, comprising: a driving motor including a rotating shaft; a housing being disposed on the driving motor, wherein the housing includes an accommodation portion and a water drawing portion, the rotating shaft is disposed in the accommodation portion and extends outside the housing, and the water drawing portion has a water inlet and a water outlet; a magnetic rotating member disposed in the accommodation portion, wherein the rotating shaft is disposed in the magnetic rotating member, the magnetic rotating member includes alternately arranged a plurality of first surfaces and a plurality of second surfaces, and magnetic poles of the first surfaces are different from magnetic poles of the second surfaces; and a magnetic impeller unit disposed opposite to top of the magnetic rotating member and located in the water drawing portion, the magnetic impeller unit includes alternately arranged a plurality of third surfaces and a plurality of fourth surfaces, and magnetic poles of the third surfaces are different from magnetic poles of the fourth surfaces, wherein magnetic poles of the first surfaces are same to the magnetic poles of the third surfaces, while magnetic poles of the second surfaces are same to the magnetic poles of the fourth surfaces.
 2. The water pump device according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic impeller unit further includes: a disk magnet having a bottom surface facing the magnetic rotating member and including the third surfaces and the forth surfaces; a hub; and a plurality of blades, each of which individually connected to the hub, and the blades being disposed radically from the hub.
 3. The water pump device according to claim 2, wherein the magnetic impeller unit further includes: a cover body disposed on the disk magnet and covering the blades, the cover body having a first opening and at least a fixing hole, and a space and at least a second opening being defined between the cover body and the disk magnet, wherein the first opening is corresponding to the water inlet, while the second opening is corresponding to the water outlet; and at least a bump disposed on one of the blades.
 4. The water pump device according to claim 2, wherein the magnetic rotating member further includes a top surface opposite to the bottom surface the disk magnet, the top surface includes the first surfaces and the second surfaces, and the areas of the top surface and the bottom surface are almost the same.
 5. The water pump device according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic rotating member includes a disk magnet which is round, rectangular, or polygon-shaped. 